The most irritating office jargon of 2018

When it comes to communications in the workplace, certain terms are likely to rile up staff – you’ve been warned.

If you’re in the process of creating some New Year’s resolutions, abolishing out office jargon should possibly be on the list to boost morale

Office furniture retailer Kit Out My Office conducted research with 2,500 office workers across the UK to determine the office jargon most likely to get their tempers rising.

According to the results, the most irritating office jargon of 2018 is:

(1) Think outside the box

(2) Hit the ground running

(3) Do more with less

(4) Can I borrow you for a second?

(5) Amazeballs

The list is pretty similar to 2017’s worst office jargon, with “Think outside the box”, “Amazeballs” and “Can I borrow you for a second?” all making a return. Meanwhile, “It’s not rocket science” and “Going forward” were among missing phrases.

“We honestly hoped to see a little more variety versus last year, as we hoped people would start cutting out annoying office phrases. However, they’re still being used widely, which provides us with a reason for continuing to undertake the survey,” said Gareth Jones, the person responsible for the survey at Kit Out My Office.

Elsewhere, the office jargon least likely to wind your colleagues up this year is:

(1) It is what it is

(2) Best-practice

(3) No brainer

(4) Cool beans

(5) Move the goalposts?

“The modern working life is fast-paced, and as such we strive to deliver information in a clear and concise manner.

“The downside of this is it is a breeding ground for jargon. Setting a collective New Year’s Resolution in your office to stamp-out jargon in 2018 could definitely help to improve morale.”

If you thought it was just office jargon you had to worry about, there’s a right way and a wrong way to use workplace email, and when it comes to using the CC function, it’s quite easy for workers to get under each other’s skin.

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